“SON encourages students to do volunteer work and to serve people in need where it offered a sense of community involvement to each person.”
Student Support
We understand that every student is richly endowed with potential and progress at an individual rate. Our programmes and support systems create opportunities for all our students to realize their potential for learning and achievement at each stage of their education.
Student Support Services at SON are designed to promote academic, language, physical, and social-emotional development. We have invested in and developed an extensive network of support services to meet the needs of diverse learners. SON is pleased to provide these services without additional tuition fees so every student has access to the support they would benefit from.
Our Special Education Programme creates tailor-made, individualized learning programmes for its students. It caters to students with pronounced cognitive and physical disabilities including global developmental delay, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Down syndrome.
With a ratio of 5 teachers to 8 students, we create an enriching and loving atmosphere with the aim of developing a balance of appropriate academic and life skills designed by our specialists.
The programme includes the development of functional academic skills, adaptive and daily living skills, social and pragmatic skills, community access, vocational training and skills to facilitate greater levels of independence. We emphasize social integration of students with intellectual disabilities in similar-ability classrooms and activities with the greatest degree of integration possible.
We provide inclusive learning support for academics or behavior, as defined within a student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). Each plan is developed through consultation with teachers and parents to best support students’ needs. Currently, over two dozen students are served by 4 inclusive specialists and are catered to using differentiated strategies by their class teachers.
The objective of the English Language Learning efforts at SON is to assist learners whose first language is not English and whose English language proficiency skills are not at grade level. This is offered from P3 to P5, as other structures are in-place at other grades to develop English proficiency.
ELLs (English Language Learners) receive pull-out support. Instead of attending mainstream English classes they are instructed by an ELL teacher in a separate location in a smaller group setting. The focus is to improve overall levels of proficiency in reading, writing, and oral skills (speaking and listening) in order to prepare students to re-enter the mainstream English program. The ELL support teacher is entirely responsible for assessment and reporting for his or her learners.
The progress of ELLs is regularly monitored. Regular meetings are held between the ELL support teachers and the classroom teacher to determine whether or not an ELL is ready to return to mainstream English classes. This decision is based on a variety of assessment tools.
Counselling services are also available to all students. Our counsellors meet students and help guide them to understand the causes of challenges they may be experiencing and to learn new strategies to overcome issues that may be affecting their social or emotional well-being or academic progress. These counselling services are frequently part of a student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). The goal of our counselling department is to foster students’ well-being and increase their capacity to be successful and independent learners.
SON’s University Guidance Counselling Office supports all Secondary students and families in their transition to postsecondary education. Parents of any Secondary student are also welcome to schedule a meeting with the University Guidance Counsellor and universities that visit.
A search for the best university setting for each student is a time-intensive process that must begin early in the Secondary school experience. Our University Guidance Counselling Office provides comprehensive university and career guidance, with the goal of helping each School of the Nations graduate find the right university option for him or her.
What we offer:
- One-to-one academic and career counselling
- Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) group activities
- Visits to universities
- Presentations and seminars by universities
- Application support for international and domestic universities
- Access to UniFrog, an online tool to help university selection
For all matters, please e-mail the school University Guidance Counsellor, at careerguidance@schoolofthenations.com.